Reply #5: "Sources": 10,000 US troops on offer for Iraq [View All]

[JTFrog]

"All spoke on condition of anonymity to frankly discuss the sensitive matter during interviews over the past two weeks."

Then there are the not so anonymous parts of the article:

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Tuesday said the Pentagon is still planning for all U.S. troops to withdraw by year's end, noting that time is running out for Iraq's government to ask them to stay.

"We have said for a long time now if the Iraqi government asks us to maintain some level of troops beyond that end of the year deadline, we would consider it," Carney told reporters in Washington.

He appeared to back off that possibility, however, adding: "That doesn't necessarily mean we would do it. We would just consider it. And I really don't have any more information on that possible outcome because, again, we haven't even gotten a request."

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Without a request from Iraq, fewer than 200 active duty troops would stay at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as military advisers, a role that is common for American diplomatic missions worldwide. More than 166,000 U.S. troops were in Iraq in October 2007, the peak of the Pentagon's surge.

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But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki refuses to publicly endorse a troops' extension. One of his critical political allies — a Shiite movement headed by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr — has threatened widespread violence if troops stay. Al-Sadr's militias once waged fierce attacks on U.S. forces.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Sources-10-000-US-troops-on-offer-for-Iraq-1452986.php#ixzz1RcEwaXh6